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After originally scheduled to spend the night in Los Angeles following the opening World Cup match on Monday, the Iranian men’s soccer team was ordered to leave the country as soon as possible.
Coach Amir Ghalenoei said he was ordered to leave the United States and return to his training base in Mexico just hours after opening his politically charged tournament with a 2-2 draw with New Zealand on Monday night.
Ghalenoei did not say who ordered the Iranians to leave ahead of schedule. The team expected to spend the night in California to maximize the normal recovery process after their first game, only to be told after the game that everyone must immediately get on a plane for the 140-mile trip back to Tijuana.
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Iran’s national soccer team poses before the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group G match against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on June 15, 2026. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu)
“They didn’t even give us time to recover,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter. “After today’s game, they told us, ‘You have to leave immediately.’ It’s very important for us to have time to recover, (but) they’re asking us to get on a plane and go back to our camp in Tijuana, and that worries us a lot.”
Iran captain Mehdi Taremi said the team endured five hours of travel and security checks during what is normally a very short trip from Tijuana to the Los Angeles area on Sunday.
Members of the Iranian national soccer team arrive by bus at the Marriott Hotel in Tijuana, Mexico, after their 2026 FIFA World Cup Group G match against New Zealand on June 15, 2026. (Carlos Moreno/Anadolu)
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“To be honest, we don’t know why they are returning us,” Ghalenoei said. “I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us. The decision-making for us is done elsewhere. We were supposed to come two nights before the game, and we were supposed to stay tonight to recover and come back at lunchtime tomorrow. We have no idea why.
“I think our team is perhaps the most oppressed in the World Cup.”
Taremi called on FIFA to offer additional assistance.
“I think FIFA has to help us more than this… In reality, everything is like a disaster for us,” he said.
The Iranians’ two remaining games in the group are against Belgium in Inglewood on Sunday, followed by a trip to Seattle to face Egypt next week.
Iran fans celebrate wildly as their team battles New Zealand for a draw in the World Cup. (Photo by Liza Rosales/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
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As several hundred Iranian-Americans protested against the government outside, many diaspora fans booed and turned their backs on the field during the national anthem. Dozens of Lion and Sun emblems (the centerpiece of Iran’s official flag before 1979) were displayed in the crowd despite FIFA’s attempts to keep them away, while dozens more fans wore Lion and Sun emblems on t-shirts.
